2. Variety

Moleskine notebooks and journals come in an enormous variety of styles for different uses and users. At The Paper Package we stick to the classic notebook, cahiers and “passions” range of journals, but you can also purchase Moleskines for sketching, watercolour painting, reporter flip-style notebooks, diaries (the BEST diaries), japenese-style albums, story-board notebooks, music notebooks and more…

4. Community

5. Individuality

You can give someone a Moleskine notebook that perfectly suits their individual tastes and interests (and if they don’t have any interests, maybe these could inspire them!) Even the specific journals like this “Passions” range are designed to be customisable and personalisable (err…if that’s even a word!)

Conclusion:

Moleskine notebooks and journals make original, inspiring and stylish gifts that are perfect for so many people and occasions, from that “hard to buy for” friend to your cat-loving aunt.

To check out our current range of Moleskine products, and gift baskets containing Moleskine products please visit us at The Paper Package.

I think you’ll agree that one of the hardest things about gift giving is trying to think up new gift ideas (hence the popularity of gift cards!)

At our online gift shop The Paper Package, we are obviously all about encouraging you to buy actual presents for your friends & family (rather than the envelope with a plastic card inside), and so to help with gift ideas we’ve written a number of gift guides for different interests, personality types and occasions.

Gardening is one of the most-popular pastimes in New Zealand, so it’s likely that you have at least one gardener or garden lover on your yearly gift list. If so… what do you think of these ideas? Granted, they are not your normal gardening gifts – there’s not a trowel or gumboot in sight – but they could make lovely & original gifts that will be much appreciated and remembered.

The images have been directly taken from our website, and below them you’ll find more information about the products and links to them.

The Butterfly Stickers are such high quality and can be used for everything from sealing envelopes, gift wrapping to decorating (I have seen them stuck onto plain white candles and they look absolutely gorgeous)

And, finally the “Le Jardin” gift box is a lovely gift-boxed collection of products that includes a jar of the very popular Scully’s lavender gardening hand cream.

♠♠♠♠♠

This is a pretty random row of gifts that a keen gardener might enjoy:

The Folk Art Boxed Card Set from Rifle Paper Co. is a great gift idea, and so handy to have on hand. Why waste time & money going to the shops every time you need a card, when you can have these gorgeous, original cards in your desk drawer. So these would be great both as a gift for gardeners, or to send to a gardener.

As mentioned above Scully’s lavender Gardener’s Hand Cream is very popular. This particular product is presented in a lovely, vintage-style gift box and would make the perfect little birthday or thank you gift.

Our final product in this row is O’Check Design Graphics String, Scissors & Spool Set. This is also a very popular product, it looks fantastic sitting on your bench or table, and the scissors work phenomenally well! I have been using my set for a couple of years now, and they are as sharp as ever.

The Botanical Gift Box features a stunning collection of botanically themed products, including a boxed set of gift cards, small notebook, lavender, blackcurrent & cassis candle, Harney & Sons green tea and some handmade chocolate flowers. It really does make a gorgeous special occasion gift!

Finally, the Gardener’s Gift Pack is a lovely gift-boxed pairing of Scully’s gardener’s hand cream and gardener’s soap. Attractive and practical, this makes a nice gift for the green-fingered.

If the couple has a gift registry then it could be a good idea to stick to a gift item from there. Although it can seem a bit impersonal, you will at least be giving them something you know they will like.

If all the items on the register are too expensive for your budget, it can be a good idea to either give a gift card from the registry store in an amount that you can afford, or chip in with other guests to purchase one of the couple’s dream items together.

3. TIMELESS GIFTS

When there is no gift registry and you don’t want to give cash, the next best thing could be a timeless wedding gift such as:

– Silver candlesticks

– Best quality bed-linen (good for posting so a good choice if you are unable to attend)

– French Champagne

– Quality cutlery

– Crystal

– Cast-iron French cookware (not so good for posting!)

These gifts are great for couples that have been living together already and don’t require any of the traditional “setting up a home” type gifts.

Sometimes the best-loved wedding gifts can come from thoughtful, sentimental ideas such as a book filled with the family recipes, or a photo album of candid, non-staged wedding shots. An anniversary journal is another romantic, sentimental idea for the couple.

But now you’ve chosen the gift, how are you going to wrap it?

Once you’ve settled on a gift for the wedding – why not go that little step further and make the gift something really special through lovely gift wrapping. It makes your gift stand out and gives the bride (and groom) that lovely sense of fun and anticipation that comes from unwrapping a beautiful or unique present.

If you’re going to be putting your gift on a table or prominent position at the wedding it’s a nice idea to go with the theme of the wedding – take your cue from the look of the invitation. For example these types of gift wraps would look great for a casual, outdoors, vintage-y wedding…

ALWAYS attach your gift tag or card securely to the gift – it’s very stressful for newly-weds or their family trying to remember who gave what, or match loose cards to random gifts. It also makes it a nightmare to thank people properly if you’re not quite sure what they gave you!

If you’re planning on giving an envelope containing money or gift cards etc, transform it into a gift by using a generous length of double satin ivory or white ribbon, or other trimmings to embellish the outside.

So you’ve forgotten all about ordering a Valentine’s Day gift online and the only things left to buy are supermarket chocolate or over-priced roses… well, don’t panic just yet, because we’ve found 5 great last minute Valentine’s day ideas!

After years of coffee and cafe supremacy over the more humble cup of tea and cake shop, it seems that Afternoon Tea is firmly back in fashion. More and more hotels and restaurants now offer an “Afternoon Tea” service, and many people are even replacing the ubiquitous wedding buffet with an afternoon tea. Far removed from dusty Church meetings and retirement homes, this new style of Afternoon Tea reclaims it’s history, being both beautifully smart and elegant while keeping that lovely sense of nostalgia.

[via This is Glamorous]

Tradition has it that “Afternoon Tea” as such was initiated by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, who complained of “having that sinking feeling” in the afternoon (at the time when the dinner meal was not started until 8pm at least). She found that this was relieved by a light meal of sandwiches or snacks and tea (usually Darjeeling), and this was such a sensible and sociable idea that the trend rapidly caught on. Soon anybody who was anybody in fashionable London was enjoying Afternoon Tea with friends in their drawing rooms.

So, over 150 years on, what does an “Afternoon Tea” service look like at a fine hotel or restaurant? Well, as far as the food goes it is usually served on a 3 layer stand or trolley, and the layers contain (in order from bottom to top)…

1. A selection of dainty finger sandwiches

Popular selections of sandwiches include cucumber, egg & cress, some kind of chicken (coronation chicken etc.) and smoked salmon. Crusts off of course!

2. Scones with Jam and Cream

A quick aside… Whether you should put the cream on first then a dollop of jam, or the jam on first and a dollop of cream is commonly known as the Cornwall/Devon question. The former county tends towards jam first then cream, while Devon favours cream then jam. As noted last year by Susan Smillie in the Guardian, at last… a fight that’s worth fighting for! Which side are you on?

3. Miniature Cakes and Fresh Pastries

The final (top) layer of the tray traditionally holds a small selection of in-house made pastries and other mini delicacies.

But of course one of the most important parts of the ritual is the tea itself. As noted above the Duchess of Bedford favoured Darjeeling, but at many hotels now the choice is enormous… ranging from the more traditional blends to organic and herbal infusions.

And speaking of tea, here are a few quick etiquette tips (extracted and paraphrased from the Palm Court, Langham London’s guide) …

Contrary to popular opinion your pinkie finger should NOT be raised when holding your cup, but should curve back gently towards your wrist

Dunking of any food in your cup of tea is a terrible social faux-pas (luckily I don’t think this includes super wines in the comfort of your own home!)

When serving lemon with tea it is correct to serve slices and not wedges (presumably so as to not inadvertently squeeze lemon juice in your eye when retrieving said lemon from your cup). Also, be careful not to add milk AND lemon to your tea (or your clotted cream won’t be the only thing with curdles in it)

Today’s post was inspired by a customer we had recently who asked for more pictures of the little sweet box we sell. After sending the photographs to her, we thought that other potential customers might also like to see in more detail what our packages actually look like when they are wrapped, and how they arrive on the doorstep of the recipient’s (or their) home. So here we go…

Our Vintage-Style Gift Wrapping in 7 Easy Steps

The gifts we sell at The Paper Package, whether they’re single items, gift baskets, gift boxes, Christmas hampers or anything else, are all presented in what we like to call our “signature vintage-style”. But what exactly does that mean? Well, this is the way we usually go about wrapping our gifts…

[Please excuse the terrible exposure of these photographs – the light was very bad when I took them – and I’m not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination :)]

Step One:

So, using one of our little “Sweet Boxes” for an example, the first thing we have to do is to get the gift box and the contents together…

The Sweet Box is quite a small gift, but we cram it full with as much yumminess as we can. There’s 3 bars of fresh fudge (Chocolate, Russian & Irish Creme), 2 Lindt bon bons, half a dozen handmade chocolate hearts, a bag of old-fashioned butterscotch sweets and 3 delicious lemon melting moments. Good stuff! And it all has to fit inside the box. But first…

Step Two:

We have to line the box with some lovely crisp white tissue. Then all the items are placed inside as attractively as possible…

Step Three:

Then the tissue is folded over and the contents are sealed with either a vintage-inspired sticker or some decorative Japanese washi tape.

Step Four:

Then once everything is all secure inside, the box is tied with either string or ribbon in a simple bow.

Then we usually hand write the customer’s message onto the gift tag… and secure this to the outside of the box also.

Step Five:

In step five the gift box is covered again in some white tissue before being carefully wrapped in old-fashioned brown paper or its more modern equivalent, Kraft paper. The resulting paper package is then either tied with plain string, vintage seam binding or lovely satin or grosgrain ribbon. It is also hand decorated with vintage images and/or stamps so that it gives the feel of a nostalgic “brown paper package tied up with string” (a la The Sound of Music)

Step Six:

In this step we wrap the paper package again with bubble wrap to protect it on its travels, and then secure this with a little hand made card.

Step Seven:

The final step is usually to put the package inside a courier trackpack. We use trackpacks to save costs, which allows us to offer an option of free shipping to all our customers. In some cases (generally the larger gift boxes or multiple orders) we will use brown cardboard boxes or brown wrapping paper and string.

The majority of our gifts are couriered with CourierPost, which reaches all rural addresses, urban & CBD addresses, PO Boxes and Private Bags.

I know, I know!! It is ridiculous to be talking about Christmas this early in the year. I am sure you will NOT want to be hearing about xmas gift buying etc. just at the moment. But because we want to be able to bring you so many great resources and guides for Christmas this year… well I’m afraid we are starting early!

There are now 89 days left until Christmas… and over the next couple of months we are planning a series of posts that we hope could help make some of our Christmas gift buying and organising a little bit easier.

First off, we want to start with general tips onChristmas Gift Planning, like making up a master gift list, setting your budget etc.

These guides will feature gifts from The Paper Package (after all, they are the only ones we know much about!) but also homemade & handmade gift ideas and (where we can find the information) lists of the “most popular” gifts for each category.

We also want to share with you some other Christmas-sy stuff like:

xmas decorating

xmas food + drink

teacher gift ideas (for the end of the school year)

secret santa gift ideas

free printable gift tags and cards

creative xmas gift wrapping

last minute gift ideas

and anything else that comes up in the meantime!

So, apologies for scaring anybody with the Christmas talk, but the earlier we start planning the more relaxed our Christmas will be (or that’s the theory anyway :))

A post on Christmas Gift Planning will be up on Friday… until then we’d love you to check out the first of our Christmas Gift Boxes for 2011 to be added to the website (there’s only 3 finished so far). And we’d be really interested in your thoughts & ideas on what you think makes a great Christmas gift basket or hamper…

If you’re like most people you might suffer a little bit of stress around choosing gifts… stress that comes from not knowing whether the recipient of your gift is going to love what you’ve got them, or hate it and pass it on to the next unlucky recipient as soon as possible.

That’s one of the reasons why we are so enthusiastic about selling and using O-Check Design Graphics products in our gift boxes – we think they make really fantastic gifts that will definitely not be “re-gifted”. And here’s some reasons why:

Their products are original and exclusive. In fact many of them are limited editions. This means they are not the kind of thing you will find in every stationery or gift shop throughout the country, let alone at the big chain stores. It’s really exciting to open a gift and find something lovely that you haven’t seen before.

They are practical as well as beautiful. Not everybody gets obsessive over stationery (although many people do!), but it is something that most of us use at work or at home… memo pads, notebooks, key rings, pencil cases, journals etc. etc… even expandable rulers!

They have a specific and cohesive style. Which means you can easily guess whether your gift recipient will love them or not. We think of them appealing to people whose personal style leans towards vintage but simple. Nostalgic but not gimmicky. Romantic but not cheesy. In other words, people with taste like ours! (Good taste we like to call it :))

They are environmentally friendly, using recycled products and soy-based inks along with quality, natural materials such as linen, leather, wood and metal. So if this issue is important to your gift recipient or yourself, you can be reassured that this manufacturer is environmentally aware.

They really have an inherent warmth and charm all of their own. Their journals are reminiscent of hardcover books your parents or grandparents would have read, while the travel/postage imagery, french wording and inscriptions on many of the items are quirky and interesting.

They perfectly suit the particular style of gift wrapping and presentation that we use at The Paper Package. Simple wrapping papers, natural twine, vintage motifs etc.

So, now we have convinced you of how great these products are, you might like to check out the O-Check Design Graphics gift ideas we currently have available at The Paper Package.

But we also wanted to share with you some products we have on order which will be available for gift ideas this Christmas (to keep in mind for the Chrissy presents :)):

Owl Hard Cover Notebook

This is an elegant book bound notebook with 144 lined pages – perfect for someone to fill the bookcase with stories of their own! Has a fabric cover with a lovely vintage owl silk screen print.

Wood Pencil Stand

This stylish wood product will help organise your office or study so that you can conveniently find all of your pens and pencils! The simple, clean design complements any desk arrangement, so it also makes a flexible gift idea.

Boxed Christmas Tag Set

The Noel Tag set is a beautifully packaged set of 25 Christmas themed gift tags. The set comes in an originally designed wood gift box and has 25 tags in total – 5 each of 5 different designs. Each tag is 6 x 10cm and has an endearing image and sentiment.

If you would like us to let you know when any of these products become available, or would like any further information regarding any of our gift boxes or items please don’t hesitate to contact us.

And finally, if you like the style of O-Check Design Graphics, they also make available monthly downloadable wallpapers for your desktop. I have just put the September one on my computer – and it really is lovely…

P.S. O-Check’s signature tagline is Spring Come, Rain Fall. How perfect for New Zealand in September!

It might have something to do with the arrival of spring, or the fact that it’s nearly 9 months since New Year’s Eve, but we’ve chosen baby gifts as our featured products at The Paper Package this month. And after much internet browsing (masquerading as “research”) we’ve discovered the following handy tips and ideas for how to choose the best baby gift…

Note to readers: if you have no need to purchase a baby gift in the near future you might want to skip this post and we’ll see you next week 🙂

WHAT MAKES A GREAT BABY GIFT?

There are SO many great baby products to choose from nowadays that it is really hard to decide on the best thing to buy. To help narrow your choice, these are the three most commonly cited factors you should try to take into consideration:

1. Uniqueness

You don’t want to give the same gift as everybody else. It will be a disappointment for both you and the person you are giving the gift to. Obviously you won’t know what everybody else will be purchasing for the new baby, but try to keep in mind how popular the item is and whether the recipients are either likely to get it from other people or have it already.

2. Practicality and Usefulness

It’s also important to take into consideration the circumstances of the family. With some families or expectant parents having a new baby is going to be a financial strain. In these cases it is probably fair to say that the more useful and practical the gift the better.

There is also the time factor to take into account… even families that aren’t financially-strapped WILL be time-strapped. So while that vintage lace baby outfit might look gorgeous, if it needs special washing it will either become a mess pretty quickly or will never be used at all.

3. Thoughtfulness

As with any other gift choice we really believe that it is “the thought that counts.” Gifts should be given and received in the spirit in which they were intended. So if you keep in the front of your mind the person you’re giving the gift to, and the circumstances you’re giving it in, you are sure to choose something appropriate that will be gratefully received.

TYPES OF BABY GIFTS

There are a number of different options or types of baby gifts you can choose from – and here are some of the most popular…

Note: we have no affiliation with any of the products and/or stores mentioned in this post (apart from our own of course :))

Expendable Gifts

Basically here we are talking nappies. A lot of gift guides on the internet seem to think that disposable nappies are the be-all and end-all of baby gifts – because they are so practical and will definitely be used. Personally I’m not so sure… it feels a bit like giving someone a sack of potatoes instead of a box of chocolates. Sure it might be more practical – but where’s the fun? We say you can do better (and don’t get me started on those “nappy cake” things – ugh).

Practical Gifts

These are much better gift ideas because they’re either practical and beautiful, like lovely soft merino…

Toys and books are another popular new baby or baby shower gift. It is great to browse for these online because it is so convenient and there is so much choice. Here are a couple of great online stores we found:

They also sell a great range of books for babies and children, and they do e-gift vouchers for when you’ve left it all a bit late.

Handy Tip: If you do decide to give a book, it’s an especially good idea to include an exchange card whenever possible. It’s very easy for new parents to end up with more than one copy of the same book.

Mummade and Felt

For genuinely handmade NZ toys you could take a look at www.mummade.co.nz or www.felt.co.nz. Both of these websites stock lovely, original handmade products, which are great for the “uniqueness” factor.

Clothing for the new baby is a traditional and popular gift idea. It’s usually recommended that you don’t buy the newborn size – but go for something a bit bigger that might last a bit longer. In this case you need to remember to think seasonally as well (ie. if buying the 6 month size of something, think about what the season will be in 6 months or so).

How great would it be to have a package of freshly made meals delivered to your door. This has to be one of the best new baby gift ideas! Baby Angel offers a great range of care parcels containing freshly made family meals and/or home help vouchers for new parents. You can check out their website and book products here:

★ A fun thing to give along with this gift is a handwritten list of baby predictions. We found this idea on the internet and think it would be so great for both the expectant parent(s) and their friends and families to do ★

It would also be a good activity for a baby shower because it has to be done before the baby is born obviously!

Baby Predictions – get everyone to record in the baby journal or on a piece of paper their predictions for baby’s:

Then just sit back, let the mum do all the hard work and see who was the best psychic. It will be so much fun to read over the predictions as the years roll on!

So… that’s it for our tips, hints and ideas for baby gifts. Of course we haven’t mentioned it because we’re officially opposed to gift cards, but gift (or at the very least) exchange cards are a good idea if you are really not sure what the new parents like or need. Most of the stores mentioned above do gift vouchers as do many other places – just remember to gift wrap it beautifully to make it seem special!

So after a pretty short (but for some days a very sharp!) winter, we are now officially 6 days into spring. And it’s started out so well with lovely sunny days and crisp mornings. The perfect time for all things new…

Like some new clothes maybe…

SPRING FASHION INSPIRATION

This is just for inspiration mind you… that Gucci handbag is over $6000 NZD!!

(this selection’s a steal, with the Miu Miu handbag only $1170 NZD (lol!!)

Add the perfect tint of pink for the nails

or pale blue

And that’s you all set!

Except some new bits and pieces around the house would be nice too…

SPRING HOME DECOR FRESHEN-UPS

The Lettered Cottage is the perfect blog for the fresh, clean decorating style that really suits spring. If you click through the image, their blog post has some great tips and ideas for home decoration (on a budget too!)

And some lovely spring flowers sprinkled around the house are always a real pick-me-up…

But if your house is like ours, before you get into the fun of flowers and homewares you might need to do a little bit of SPRING CLEANING (ugh).

If only the laundry looked this good, I might be more inspired to get on and clean (not really true – but I do like the laundry!)…

If you needed it – here’s some inspiration for cleaning the kitchen (SO sparkly!)

And some for the bedroom too…

Plus here’s one handy spring cleaning tip that doesn’t seem too hard – and apparently helps you get that well-deserved good night’s sleep…